This past winter, I wore the same purple Lululemon running jacket, the Spring Forward Jacket, on the majority of my runs. If you follow my blog, you were probably sick of seeing pictures of me in that jacket! I'd never really worn a running jacket before and was impressed by how much more comfortable a lightweight shell kept me by blocking the wind and cold. That jacket, while lightweight, is lined, so I've been looking for an unlined shell I can wear in spring and fall on cool and windy days. I do have a Brooks LSD Lite Jacket I bought last year (review here) that fits the bill, but I've just never loved it. The bright green doesn't go with much except black, and that black colorblocking down the one arm really bothers me.
So when Lululemon released the unlined, lightweight Miss Misty Jacket a few months ago, I wanted to try it. I love grey, so when the jacket came in the pretty Silver Fox grey color, I ordered it. I didn't love it and returned it for these reasons:
- The size 8, which is the size of all my other Lulu run jackets, was enormous on me.
- The fit is marketed as "slim," but on my curvy figure I'd say it was shapeless. It just hung on me and looked dumpy.
- It did not have thumbholes, let alone the cuffins (mittens attached to the jacket) that are in my other two run jackets.
- I thought the white zippers looked cheap.
- I thought it was way overpriced for $128. For reference, the Brooks jacket I mentioned above retails for $85, but I bought an older version for $55.
When Lulu marked it down for $69 last week online, I reassessed. There were some features of the jacket I really liked, and $69 is a really good price for a run jacket. So I took a gamble--since all sales on marked down items are final--and ordered it in a size 6. There are a number of colors and prints currently available for full price, as well as tons still marked down in several colors for $69. I wore it yesterday morning on my run and can comment on performance as well as fit.
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| Lululemon Miss Misty II Jacket in Silver Fox |
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| There is a subtle embossed print on the Silver Fox color. |
Fit
When I got the size 6 in the mail and tried it on, my heart sank. It was very tight at the hips! It fit well in the shoulders and arms, roomy and even bulky in the midsection, and tight across my hips. I have big hips and I didn't read any other reviews about it being tight in the hips, so maybe it's a problem unique to me. Still, if you have large hips/butt, you may want not want to size down like I did. Now that I've worn the jacket, though, I'm happy I got the smaller size since the bigger size was so huge.
Like I said above, it's a straight fit that I think would work best for more straight figures.
The back is longer and completely covers my butt.
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| You can see how it's fitted at the shoulders and tight at my hips. |
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| Here you can see a little of how bulky it is in the middle. |
There is a cinch at the bottom of the jacket so that you can customize the fit. The drawstrings for the cinch are hidden in the pockets. I don't like it cinched at all. The body is so bulky to begin with that cinching it creates a huge bulky bump right in the belly--not flattering!
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| Front view with the bottom cinched. |
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Side view with the bottom cinched. I wasn't trying to make it look
this bad--that's just how it is! |
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| Jacket shown open. |
Function
There are two large pockets. Like most Lulu jackets, one of the pockets has an interior mesh pocket where you can store a media player (I usually put my tissues there) and a cord slit so that you can wind your cords up through your jacket from your pocket.
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| Pockets are big enough to put your hands in them. |
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Close up of one of the pockets with the interior pocket and the
drawstring for cinching the bottom. |
There is perforation for ventilation on the bottoms of each arm and armpit. There is elastic at the cuff.
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| Perforation on the bottom half of each arm. |
There are also slits for ventilation and reflective details on both the front and back.
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| Slit for ventilation and reflective detail on the back. |
There is a hood that cinches for an adjustable fit that zips into the collar.
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| Hood zips into the collar. |
The jacket is made with Lulu's water- and wind-resistant Glyde fabric. However, it is water resistant, not water proof, so I would not wear this jacket in rain. I bought it mainly for wind resistance. It might also be okay in a light drizzle, but it's not meant for heavy rain.
Performance
I wore this jacket running on a cool, 46F, windy morning yesterday. I wore a long sleeve Lulu Swiftly under it as my only layer. This jacket was great! The wind was strong and cold, but the jacket really blocked it out. I didn't feel cold at all. Only later, after I'd showered and was walking my dog, did I realized how cold of a morning it was. I liked that the collar was fitted around my neck to keep my neck warm. Once I got running, I got a little warm but easily cooled down by unzipping most of the jacket. Because the jacket fit tight at my hips, the jacket stayed in place and didn't flop around because it was partially unzipped. I also didn't have a problem with the collar flopping around.
I also wore Lulu Speed Tights made with the slick Luxtreme fabric. I was afraid that the slick Glyde fabric would ride up against the Luxtreme, but the jacket stayed put the entire run. I didn't have to adjust it once. I loved this because I like my bum covered when it's cold, and I'm also tugging tops down over my bum. This jacket kept my bum and the rest of me comfortable.
Also, the Silver Fox color is a very light, almost white, grey. While it's not reflective, it really stood out in the dark morning. The bad part of that is that it's so light that sweat marks did show a little.
UPDATE: I wore the jacket again this morning, when it was 43F and misting slightly. About 10 minutes into my run, it started raining and progressed to a fairly hard rain. It was easy to unzip the hood and cinch it, and it stayed in place without budging throughout my whole run. I kept looking down and seeing the rain bead up on the jacket, which was a good sign. Still, I was running for over 45 minutes in steady rain, and I was sure it wouldn't hold against all that rain. I was wrong! When I got home and took it off, I saw that the inside was completely dry! So this jacket does offer good rain protection, at least for the 45 minutes I can vouch for. In that regard, this jacket is much better than the Brooks LSD Lite jacket I mentioned earlier, which seems to offer no rain protection.
The Bottom Line
I still don't think this jacket is worth the full $128 price. But there are enough nice features and it performs so well that I do think it's worth $69. While I don't love the fit and don't think it's very flattering on my figure, I can live with it since it performed really well with keeping me comfortable. I'll wear it on windy days and with a very light layer under when it's too warm to wear a heavier weight top. In addition, it packs into a pocket, so it will be good to take on trips in case of windy and cool days.
UPDATE: Now I have good, lightweight jacket that will actually keep me dry in the rain!
One last note is that there are two versions--Miss Misty and Miss Misty II. I have the Miss Misty II but have no idea what the difference is! Labels: Fit Review, Lululemon, performance review, running jacket, spring running